Brief overview of the early turning points: appeasement through Operation Barbarossa

1. Early Turning Points
of
World War II
LTs: Significance and Cause & Effect

2. Recap of the Path to War
militarization
Anschluss
Sudetenland
Munich Conference
Invasion of Poland

3. Appeasement
The Munich Agreement• rationale
• Hitler’s response
• coups d’état?
• short vs long-term perspectives

4. German-Soviet Non-aggression Pact
• surprising partnership
• secret part of the pact
• lessons learned?

5. The Fall of France
• the French learned the wrong lesson from WW I
• construction of the Maginot Line
• “phony war”
• blitzkrieg warfare
• fall of Denmark and Norway
• less than one month....
• train car
June 1940

6. Battle of Britain aka
“The Blitz” (July-Oct 1940)
• Background
• GR plans
• Initial success
• Nazis change tactics
• First major turning point: Germany is not invincible!
Luftwaffe

7. The U.S. at the Start of WW II
• end of WW I: the U.S. demilitarizes!
• policy of isolation
• impact of the Battle of Britain
• lend lease program
• “I’ll never believe an American soldier can fight
like a hero.”

8. Operation Barbarossa June 1941
• Nazis invade the USSR! (lebensraum)
• what about the relationship?
• second major turning point: two front war
• a new alliance and propaganda--”Uncle Joe”
• lend lease is extended to the USSR

9. Significance of Operation Barbarossa
Ultimately, Hitler failed to learn from WW I